Waitaki encouraged to “Love Your Library!”
Published on 29 August 2023
Waitaki encouraged to “Love Your Library!” Joining your local library this September could bag you a $50 dollar Prezzy voucher. September is Love Your Library month, and everyone who signs up will go into the weekly draw to win one of the prize cards.
The six Waitaki District Libraries are host to a world of resources, and your library card is the key to unlocking them.
“There is nothing like losing yourself in a good book, but the library really is more than books these days. We offer place for the community to learn something new through our Maker Space and informative events, meet new people, or give the kids something to do after school or on a Saturday.
By signing up to the library, you also get access to our e-book and e-audio collection on the Borrowbox platform. This September we want everyone to love their library, and all the things the library can do for them” said Jenny Bean, Libraries Manager for Waitaki.
This month the Library is hosting a talk by author and publisher Brian Miller, ‘How to write and publish a book’, on Thursday 7 September, as well as celebrating both Tongan (3 September – 9 September) and Māori (11 September – 18 September) Language Weeks.
There are also Maker Space Mondays where you can come and unleash your creativity on one of the community focused projects.
The Library will also kick off the school holidays with a bang and a build, as The Great Waitaki Brick Build-Off takes place on Saturday 23 September.
The competition, in which ten teams of one adult and up to two children complete Lego building challenges over six-hours, will be judged by Lego Masters NZ contestants Rachel de Vries and Amy Richards.
Team applications can be made at any Waitaki District Library, or online via the Libraries website.
Love Your Library Month Fact Sheet
• The Ōamaru Public Library began life in 1882 as a subscription service, becoming a municipal library in 1948 after a public campaign.
• The original library building was the Ōamaru Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute, which is now the North Otago Museum
• In 1975, having outgrown the building it was housed in for nearly a century, then Mayor R.D Allen opened the new building on the site next door.
• Waitaki District Library has six branch libraries: Ōamaru,Hampden, Palmerston, Ōtematata, Ōmarana and Kurow
• The library offers a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and reference books, as well as an extensive collection of children’s and young adult books. It also has a large dvd collection, which can be rented for free on ‘Free Film Friday’.
• Online services include e-books, e-audio books and e-magazines via the Borrowbox platform, with access to ComicsPlus and Storybox for kids. Membership also gives access to films via Beamafilm, newspapers via Press Reader and Haynes Car Manuals.
• The library is developing their own Maker Space, which includes 3D printers and holds Maker Space Monday on the last Monday of every month.
• The library hosts Toddler Time on Thursdays between 10.30 and 11am at Ōamaru Library, with Wriggle and Rhyme for children 2 and under at Ōamaru Opera House between 10.30 and 11am on Friday’s during Term Time.
• There are a range of clubs and activities for all ages available; Lego Club, Young Adult Book Chat, Migrants Meet and Share, Free Beginner Te Reo classes, Puzzle and Scrabble club and many more.
• The library offers a special dementia support catalogue of books and games to encourage discussion and reminiscing, and to support those care for people with dementia.
• The library had 99,000 in person visits and 58,000 online visits in 2022.